Publications that Cite EPA's CO-Benefits Risk Assessment (COBRA) Health Impacts Screening and Mapping Tool

Publication
type

Date

Published

Location

Summary

URL

Citation

Article

February
2019

Nevada,

United

States

Used COBRA to evaluate the health impacts of
transitioning from diesel to CNG buses in Clark
County, NV. Estimated $0.98-2.48 billion per year in
health benefits, 114-258 premature deaths, and
>5000 avoided respiratory and cardiovascular
illnesses.

https://www. mdoi.com/16
60-4601/16/5/720

Olawepo, John 0., and L-W. Antony Chen.
"Health Benefits from Upgrading Public
Buses for Cleaner Air: A Case Study of Clark
County, Nevada and the United
States." International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public
Health 16, no. 5 (2019): 720.

Article

December
2018

United
States

Used COBRA to estimate health impacts of rolling
back environmental regulations on coal-fired power
plants. Estimated 17,000- 39,000 increased
mortalities per year. Compared impacts by voting
patterns in 2016 election.

https://www.sciencedirect.
com/science/article/pii/S03
0142151830627X

Thomson, Vivian, Kelsey Huelsman, and
Dominique Ong. "Coal-fired power plant
regulatory rollback in the United States:
Implications for local and regional public
health." Energy Policy: 123: 558-568
(2018).

Article

September
2018

United
States

Used COBRA to evaluate the health impacts of
electricity capacity expansion models to incorporate
the health impacts into optimization of electricity
planning. Estimated $1013 billion in societal costs.

https://www.sciencedirect.
com/science/article/abs/pii
/S0360544218317584

Rodgers, Mark D., David W. Coit, Frank A.
Felder, and Annmarie Carlton. "Generation
expansion planning considering health and
societal damages-A simulation-based
optimization approach." Energy 164
(2018): 951-963.

Report

July 2018

United
States

Used COBRA to evaluate the health impacts of
electricity capacity expansion models to incorporate
the health impacts into optimization of electricity
planning.

https://www.sciencedirect.
com/science/article/pii/SOO
38012117302823

Rodgers, Mark, David Coit, Frank Felder,
and Annmarie Carlton. "Assessing the
effects of power grid expansion on human
health externalities." (2018).

Report

July 2018

United
States

Added functionality similar to COBRA to Engineering,
Economic, and Environmental Electricity Simulation
Tool (E4ST). The authors met with Abt Associates to
understand the functionality of COBRA, including the
S-R Matrix and atmospheric chemistry. Estimated
352-815 premature deaths from additional emissions
compared to 24-53 premature deaths when other
nuclear power policies are implemented.

h tt p: //www. rff. o rg/f i 1 e s/d o

cument/file/RFF%20WP%20

18-18.pdf

Shawhan, Daniel, and Paul Picciano.
"Retirements and Funerals: The Emission,
Mortality, and Coal-Mine Employment
Effects of a Two-Year Delay in Coal and
Nuclear Power Plant Retirements." (2018)

www.epa.gov/cobra

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type

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Article

March
2018

United
States

Used COBRA to estimate the projected health effects
for the average reduction in S02 and NOx in 2025
from a $25 carbon tax. Results are on the order of
3,500-8,000 avoided cases of premature mortality
and 90,000 avoided cases of exacerbated asthma.
This corresponds roughly to a monetized value of
$31-71 billion in health benefits (3% discount rate),
with the bulk of the benefits accruing in the upper
Midwest and East Coast.

https://www.worldscientific
.com/doi/pdf/10.1142/S201
0007818400031

Barron, Alexander R., Allen A. Fawcett,
Marc AC Hafstead, James R. McFarland,
and Adele C. Morris. "Policy insights from
the EMF 32 study on US carbon tax
scenarios." Climate Change Economics 9,
no. 01 (2018): 1840003.

Report

March
2018

United
States

Listed and described in "Methodologies for
Calculating the Damage per Unit of Emissions for
Pollutants that Depend on Time and Location"
section. Estimated the dollar value per MWh of S02
($52-171), NOx ($3-12), and PM2 5($7-22) and the
value of avoided emissions from two natural gas
power plants ($30-40/MWh).

http://policvintegritv.org/fil
es/publications/Valuing Pol
lution Reductions.pdf

Shrader, Jeffrey, Burcin Unel, and Avi
Zevin. "Valuing Pollution Reductions."
(2018).

Report

February
2018

United
States

Analyzed the health impacts of a hypothetical 15%
reduction in energy consumption nationwide. Used
AVERT to estimate emission reductions and COBRA to
find avoided health harms per capita in states and
cities with the highest being $184/per capita in West
Virginia and $210/per capita in Pittsburgh. Also found
the avoided costs of adult mortality, nonfatal heart
attacks, minor restricted-activity days, infant
mortality, lost work days, and respiratory-related
symptoms totaling $630,431,926.

http://efficiencyforall.Org/w
ordpress/wp-

content/uploads/2017/04/h
1801.pdf

Hayes, S. and Kubes, C., Saving Energy,
Saving Lives. (2018).

www.epa.gov/cobra

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type

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Article

February
2018

United
States

Analyzed the general equilibrium costs of climate
policies that levy taxes on carbon dioxide (C02)
emissions in the United States and return the
revenue in the form of lump-sum rebates and tax
relief over the years 2020 to 2040 using the US
regional version of the Applied Dynamic Analysis of
the Global Economy (ADAGE-US) forward-looking
dynamic Computable General Equilibrium (CGE)
model. Used COBRA to approximate the value of co-
benefits to these policies that arise from concomitant
reductions in non-greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Found co-benefits per housing including PM2.5 co-
benefits ($547-1234), avoided mortality ($539-1217),
and avoided morbidity ($3-12).

https://www.worldscientific
,com/doi/abs/10.1142/S201
0007818400067

Woollacott, Jared. "The economic costs
and co-benefits of carbon taxation: A
general equilibrium assessment." Climate
Change Economics 9, no. 01 (2018):
1840006.

Environ-
mental
Impact
Statement

February
2018

New York,

United

States

Used COBRA to estimate how the emission
reductions from implementation of 2,400 MW of off-
shore wind energy in New York State would affect
ambient air quality and adverse health impacts
throughout the coastal region. Found that the
implementation of 2,400 MW of offshore wind
energy would result in 8 to 18 fewer premature
deaths annually and would avoid multiple adverse
health outcomes in 2030 across the northeast United
States.

https://tethvs. pnnl.gov/pub

lications/draft-generic-

environmental-impact-

statement-procurement-

offshore-wind

New York State Department of Public
Service and Ecology and Environment, Inc.
"Draft Generic Environmental Impact
Statement for Procurement of Offshore
Wind" (2018).

Report

January
2018

New York,

United

States

Used COBRA to estimate how the emission
reductions from implementation of 2,400 MW of off-
shore wind energy in New York State would affect
ambient air quality and adverse health impacts
throughout the coastal region. Found that the
implementation of 2,400 MW of offshore wind
energy would result in 8 to 18 fewer premature
deaths annually and would avoid multiple adverse
health outcomes in 2030 across the northeast United
States.

https://www.nvserda.nv.eo
v/AII-

Programs/Programs/Offsho

re-Wind/Offshore-Wind-in-

New-York-State-

Overview/NYS-Offshore-

Wind-Master-Plan

New York State Energy Research and
Development Authority. "New York State
Offshore Wind Master Plan: Charting a
Course to 2,400 Megawatts of Offshore
Wind Energy" (January 2018).

www.epa.gov/cobra

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type

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Public
Comments

January
2018

United
States

Used results from COBRA in developing public
comments on the proposed Glider Vehicles Rule to
estimate the potential public health impacts that
could occur should glider vehicles go unregulated.
Found that controlling emissions of these vehicles
would reduce 70-160 premature deaths and generate
$0.3-1.1 billion worth of health benefits.

https://www. edf.org/sites/

default/files/content/Appe

ndix%20B%20-

%20Emission%20and%20He

alth%20Effects%20of%20Gli

der%20Vehicles.pdf

Environmental Defense Fund Comment on
EPA Proposed Glider Vehicles Rule, Docket
ID EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0827. "Appendix B:
Potential Emission and Health Impacts of
Glider Kits" (Submitted January 5, 2018).

Report

December
2017

Virginia,

United

States

Used to analyze the effects of whether Virginia linked
to RGGI and established its C02 Budget Trading
Program. The EPA used two sets of assumptions: the
RGGI Scenario and the Virginia (VA) Scenario. Found
that the RGGI Scenario would reduce mortality 5.3-12
by 2029 and the VA Scenario would reduce mortality
4.4-10 by 2029.

http://townhall.virginia.gov
/L/GetFile.cfm?File=C:%5CT
ownHall%5Cdocroot%5Cl%
5C4818°/o5C8130%5CEIA D
EQ 8130 v2.pdf

Virginia Department of Planning and
Budget, Economic Impact Analysis (2017).

Article

November
2017

Ohio, United
States

Used to estimate the economic value of health
effects under various scenarios of opting out of
energy efficiency programs. Found the increase
health costs of opting out are $564-$1.3 billion in
Ohio and $4.1-9.3 billion in the greater region.

https://www.sciencedirect.
com/science/article/pii/SlO
40619017302440

Baatz, Brendon, Grace Relf, and Meegan
Kelly. "Consequences of large customer
opt-out: An Ohio example" The Electricity
Journal

Report

October
2017

United
States

Used to calculate avoidable health care costs for
acute myocardial infarctions, other cardiovascular
diseases, asthma, and respiratory conditions to
measure the benefits of urban tree planting. Found
that the avoidable annual health care costs could be
$13.2 million and work loss costs could be $11.9
million (12.5 percent of the estimated annual costs
for tree planning and maintenance).

https://global.nature.org/co

ntent/funding-trees-for-

health

The Nature Conservancy. McDonald, R.,
Aljabar, L, Aubuchon, C., Birnbaum, H.,
Chadler, C., Toomey, B., Daley, J., Jimenez,
W., Trieschman, E., Paque, J., Zeiper, M.
"Funding Trees for Health: An Analysis of
Finance and Policy Actions to Enable Tree
Planting for Public Health." October 2017.

www.epa.gov/cobra

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Article

August
2017

United
States

Used COBRA to estimate the value of reductions to
the pollutants S02, NOx, and PM2.5, as part of use a
suite of models also including EASIUR, the impact
factor model developed in Penn et al. and Levy et al.,
Air Pollution Emission Experiments and Policy
analysis model (AP2, formerly APEEP: Muller et al.),
and EPA RIA benefits per-tonne estimates. Found
cumulative benefits of $29.7-112.8 billion from 3000-
12,700 avoided premature mortalities.

https://www. nature.com/ar
ticles/nenergv2017134

Millstein, Dev, Ryan Wiser, Mark Bolinger,
and Galen Barbose. "The climate and air-
quality benefits of wind and solar power in
the United States," Nature Energy 6.
August 2017.

Disserta-
tion

August
2017

United
States

Used COBRA to estimate the estimate of air-pollution
costs by modes of transportation. Found human
health externality unit costs to be $0.57/vehicle mile
traveled and $0.91/passenger mile traveled.

http://tigerprints.clemson.e
du/all dissertations/2018/

Sun, Jianan. "External Economic Costs of
Intelligent Urban Transportation Systems:
A Method to Evaluate the Externalities of
Comparative Technology Adoption
Pathways in the Urban Mobility Service
sector." Clemson University, PhD Thesis.
August 2017.

Report

June 2017

Ohio, United
States

Used COBRA to estimate the economic value of
health effects under various scenarios of opting out
of energy efficiency programs. Found the increase
health costs of opting out are $564-$1.3 billion in
Ohio and $4.1-9.3 billion in the greater region.

https://aceee.org/sites/def

Baatz, Brendon, Grace Relf, and Meegan
Kelly. "Large Customer Opt-Out: An Ohio
Example." American Council for an Energy-
Efficient Economy, Report U1706. June
2017.

ault/files/publications/rese
archreports/u 1706.pdf

Disserta-
tion

June 2017

Michigan,

United

States

Used COBRA to estimate the health impacts from
reductions in S02 and NOx due to energy savings from
light programs in Michigan. Found benefits from
avoided pollutants to be $36-81 million.

http://scholarworks.wmich.
edu/dissertations/3145/

Amough, Teryila Ephraim. "A Meta-
Analysis of Energy Savings from Lighting
Programs in Michigan." Western Michigan
University, PhD Thesis. June 2017.

Article

April 2017

N/A

Compared InMAP outputs to outputs from WRF-
Chem and COBRA. Found that COBRA performs
similarly to InMAP but not as much spatial detail as
WRF-Chem.

http://iournals.plos.org/plo
sone/article?id=10.1371/io
urnal.pone.0176131

Tessum, C. W., Hill, J. D., and Marshall, J. D.
"InMAP: A model for air pollution
interventions." PloS one. April 2017.

www.epa.gov/cobra

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January
2017

United
States

Does not use COBRA, but explains that this inventory
of emissions from agriculture and livestock could be
coupled with an air quality screening tool such as
COBRA to evaluate potential changes in human
health from changes in emissions concentrations.

https://enerev.eov/sites/pr
od/files/2017/02/f34/2016
billion ton report volume
2 chapter 9.pdf

U.S. Department of Energy. January 2017.
2016 Billion-Ton Report: Advancing
Domestic Resources for a Thriving
Bioeconomy, Volume 2: Environmental
Sustainability Effects of Select Scenarios
from Volume 1. R.A. Efroymson, M.H.
Langholtz, K.E. Johnson, and B.J. Stokes
(Leads), ORNL/TM-2016/727. Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.

Report

January
2017

United
States

Used COBRA to estimate how changes in NOx and
S02 affect ambient PM2.5. Found the health impacts
of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to be 300-
830 lives saved, 8,200 asthma attacks avoided,
39,000 lost work days avoided, and $5.7 billion in
health savings and other benefits.

https://www.abtassociates.

com/insiehts/publications/r

eport/analvsis-of-the-

public-health-impacts-of-

the-reeional-ereenhouse-

gas

Abt Associates (2017). Analysis of the
Public Health Impacts of the Regional
Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Working
Paper

November
2016

United
States

Analyzed COBRA as a tool to measure the impacts of
energy efficiency in buildings. Found that COBRA had
an interactive approach, with a policy scope, was
used at the design stage of policy, and had a
targeting city focus.

http://www.sustainablesids
.ore/wp-

content/uploads/2016/12/

UNEP-Tools-Enerev-

Efficient-Buildines-2016.pdf

Petrichenko, K., Aden, N., & Tsakiris, A.
(2016). Tools for Energy Efficiency in
Buildings. A Guide for policy-makers and
experts. Working paper, C2E2,
Copenhagen and WRI, Washington DC For
further information or to provide
feedback, please contact Ksenia
Petrichenko.

Article

September
2016

United
States

Used COBRA to calculate reduced morbidity and
mortality outcomes and total monetary value from
net emissions changes due to state RPS programs.
Found reduced air pollution provide $5.2 billion in
health and environmental benefits.

http://www.sciencedirect.c
om/science/article/pii/S030
1421516303408

Barbose, Galen, et al. "A retrospective
analysis of benefits and impacts of US
renewable portfolio standards." Energy
Policy 96 (2016): 645-660.

www.epa.gov/cobra

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Working
Paper

September
2016

N/A

Referenced COBRA as "an example of a framework
for air quality improvements that can be used to
quantify changes in air quality and the resulting
calculated health outcomes in both epidemiological
and monetary terms. COBRA as well as other work
from the US EPA suggests that measures for
producing both local air quality and associated GHG
co-benefits offer compelling value for health and
wellbeing that can be pursued irrespective of a
climate change agenda. As understanding grows and
data become more readily available, frameworks and
analyses can consider additional co-benefits such as
ecosystem benefits or avoided material damages, as
well as potential economic opportunities to develop
and deploy innovative clean technologies (US EPA
2004)."

http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/688
76/1/Cobenefits Of Urban
Climate Action.pdf

Floater, Graham, et al. "Co-benefits of
urban climate action: a framework for
cities." (2016).

Article

September
2016

N/A

Analyzed COBRA as part of a survey of tools to
measure ambient air pollution health risks. This
paper discusses the differences between tools for
factors such as information source, format, and
technical complexity.

https://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.g
ov/pubmed/26742852

Anenberg, Susan C., Anna Belova, J0rgen
Brandt, Neal Fann, Sue Greco, Sarath
Guttikunda, Marie-Eve Heroux et al.
"Survey of ambient air pollution health risk
assessment tools." Risk Analysis (2015).

Article

July 2016

United
States

Used COBRA to analyze the social costs of PM2.5
pollution in 3,000 U.S. counties. Found the marginal
social costs for S02 ($104/t), NOx ($103-104/t) and
NH3 ($103 5-1045/t).

http://www.sciencedirect.c
om/science/article/pii/S135
2231016303090

Heo, J., Adams, P. J., & Gao, H. 0. (2016).
Reduced-form modeling of public health
impacts of inorganic PM 2.5 and precursor
emissions. Atmospheric Environment, 137,
80-89.

Report

July 2016

Ohio, United
States

COBRA was used to model health impacts from each
power plant in Ohio using estimated primary PM2.5
and historic NOx and S02 emissions. Found that
PM2.s emissions from power plants account for 940-
2130 premature deaths/year and Clean Power Plan
implementation would reduce health burdens $8.1-
18.2 billion.

https://www.psehealthven
ergy.org/wp-

content/uploads/2017/04/C
PP.OH l.pdf

PSE Healthy Energy. The Clean Power Plan
in Ohio: Analyzing power generation for
health and equity. July 2016.

www.epa.gov/cobra

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July 2016

Pennsylvania
, United
States

COBRA was used to model health impacts from each
power plant in Pennsylvania using estimated primary
PM2.5 and historic NOx and S02 emissions. Found
that power plant emissions contribute to 1,000-2,300
premature deaths and the Clean Power Plan would
reduce health burdens $8.9-20 billion.

https://www.psehealthven
ergv.org/our-

work/publications/archive/
our-air-health-and-eauitv-
impacts-of-pennsvlvanias-
power-plants/

PSE Healthy Energy. The Clean Power Plan
in Pennsylvania: Analyzing power
generation for health and equity. July
2016.

Report

June 2016

California,

United

States

COBRA was used to estimate the health effects from
reduced S02 or NOx emissions resultant from the
California Energy Commission's 2016 proposed
efficiency standards for computers, computer
monitors, and signage displays. Estimated health
benefits to be $4.7-10.6 million from 2018-2030.

http://www.dof.ca.gov/For
ecasting/Economics/Maior
Regulations/Maior Regulati
ons Table/documents/SRIA
APPEFF 2016 All.pdf

Roland-Host, David; Evans, Samuel; Han
Springer, Cecilia; Emmer, Tessa; Prepared
for California Energy Commission.
"Standardized Regulatory Impact
Assessment: Computers, Computer
Monitors, and Signage Displays." June
2016.

Article

May 2016

United
States

Used COBRA as part of a reduced-form model to
estimate the mortality costs per tonne of PM2.5
inorganic air pollution. Estimated the aggregate social
costs to be $1.0 trillion.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs
/10.1021/acs.est.5b06125

Heo, J., Adams, P. J., & Gao, H. 0. (2016).
Public Health Costs of Primary PM2. 5 and
Inorganic PM2. 5 Precursor Emissions in
the United States. Environmental science &
technology, 50(11), 6061-6070.

Public
Comments

May 2016

District of
Columbia,
United
States

COBRA was used to estimate the effect of reduced air
pollution on premature deaths and economic growth
due to improved health outcomes. Found clean
energy measures will prevent 27-60 premature
deaths and increase regional economic growth by
$253-572 million from better health outcomes.

http://chesapeakeclimate.o
rg/wp/wp-

content/uploads/2016/05/C
CAN B21-

0650 testimony DC-
RPS.pdf

Chesapeake Climate Action Network.
Comments on B21-0650- Renewable
Portfolio Standard Expansion Amendment
Act of 2016.

Article

May 2016

United
States

COBRA was used to quantify the health and economic
impacts of extra NOx emissions attributable to non-
compliant Volkswagen vehicles in the U.S. Found
extra NOx emissions for one year equal 5-50
premature deaths, 247-1061 episodes of respiratory
symptoms, 3-14 cardiovascular hospital emissions, 3-
13 emergency asthma visits, 687-17,526 work days
with restricted activity, and economic costs of
$43,479-432,268,502.

http://www.mdpi.com/166
0-4601/13/9/891/html

Hou, Lifang; Zhang, Kai; Luthin, Moira A.;
Baccarelli, Andrea A. (2016). Public Health
Impact and Economic Costs of
Volkswagen's Lack of Compliance with the
United States' Emission Standards. Int. J.
Environ. Res. Public Health. 13(9): 891.

www.epa.gov/cobra

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May 2016

United
States

COBRA was used to estimate air quality benefits of
the 20 GW of solar power installed by the end of
2014 by region or state. Found emissions reductions
would result in $420-1,590 million per year in
benefits, higher in regions with high population
densities and greater power-sector emissions (e.g.,
Great-Lakes-Mid-Atlantic).

https://www. nrel.gov/docs/
fvl6osti/65628.pdf

Wiser, Ryan, Trieu Mai, Dev Millstein,
Jordan Macknick, Alberta Carpenter, Stuart
Cohen, Wesley Cole, Bethany Frew, and
Garvin Heath. On the Path to Sunshot: The
Environmental and Public Health Benefits
of Achieving High Penetrations of Solar
Energy in the United States. Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL). Powered by SunShot U.S.
Department of Energy. May 2016.

Report

January
2016

United
States

Used COBRA to calculate reduced morbidity and
mortality outcomes and total monetary value from
net emission changes. Found health and
environmental benefits (primarily from S02, NOx,
and PM2.5 reductions) to be between $4-10 billion.
Additional benefits include avoiding 160-290
emergency room visits for asthma, 195-310 hospital
emissions for respiratory and cardiovascular
symptoms, 40-560 non-fatal heart attacks and
38,000-64,000 lost work days.

https://emp. Ibl.gov/sites/all
/files/lbnl-1003961.pdf

U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley
Lab) and National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL) January 2016 "A
Retrospective Analysis of the Benefits and
Impacts of U.S. Renewable Portfolio
Standards, released January 2016"
https://emp.lbl.gov/sites/all/files/lbnl-
1003961.pdf

Report

January
2016

United
States

COBRA was used to calculate reduced morbidity and
mortality outcomes and total monetary value from
net emissions changes due to state RPS programs.
Found health and environmental benefits (primarily
from S02, NOx, and PM2.5 reductions) to be
between $4-10 billion. Additional benefits include
avoiding 160-290 emergency room visits for asthma,
195-310 hospital emissions for respiratory and
cardiovascular symptoms, 40-560 non-fatal heart
attacks and 38,000-64,000 lost work days.

http://www.nrel.g0v/d0cs/f
vl6osti/65005.pdf

Wiser, R., G. Barbose, J. Heeter, T. Mai, L.
Bird, M. Bolinger, A. Carpenter, G. Heath,
D. Keyser, J. Macknick, A. Mills, and D.
Millstein. 2016. A Retrospective Analysis of
the Benefits and Impacts of U.S. Renewable
Portfolio Standards. Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory and National
Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/TP-
6A20-65005.

Conference
proceeding

November
2015

United
States

COBRA was used to estimate the health co-benefits
from different scenarios of renewable energy
deployment in the United States by converting
changes in air pollutant emissions to changes
population health outcomes.

https://apha.confex.com/ap

ha/143am/webprogram/Pa

per336283.html

Bast, E. (2015, November). Analyzing the
health co-benefits of renewable energy
deployment in the United States. In 2015
APHA Annual Meeting & Expo (Oct. 31-
Nov. 4, 2015). APHA.

www.epa.gov/cobra

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September
2015

Utah, United
States

Used COBRA to estimate the benefits associated with
a seasonal gas tax to reduce vehicle trips in Cache
Valley, Utah. Estimated the total health benefit to be
$782,750.

http://link. springer, com/art

icle/10.1007/sl0640-015-

9968-z

Moscardini, Leo and Arthur J. Caplan
(2015) "Controlling Episodic Air Pollution
with a Seasonal Gas Tax: The Case of Cache
Valley, Utah." Environmental and Resource
Economics

White
Paper

July 2015

New York,

United

States

COBRA was used to estimate the marginal cost in
health effects of S02 or NOx emissions. The authors
ran a scenario for each pollutant by specifying a
reduction of a fixed amount of emissions from the
COBRA control case for electricity generating units in
NY. Found the dollar/MWh value for S02, NOx, and
C02 for 2017-2035. 2035 estimates are $42-78/MWh.

http://www3.dps.nv.eov/vv
/PSCWeb.nsf/96f0fec0b45a
3c6485257688006a701a/26
be8a93967e604785257cc40
066b91a/$FILE/Staff BCA
Whitepaper Final.pdf

New York Department of Public Service.
Staff White Paper on Benefit-Cost Analysis
in the Reforming Energy Vision Proceeding
(14-M-0101). July 2015.

Article

March
2015

N/A

References COBRA as a computational tool to
evaluate energy policy and planning alternatives in
order to determine which scenarios are most likely to
meet climate and energy goals.

http://www.sciencedirect.c
om/science/article/pii/S221
4629614001364

Bridges, A.; Felder, F.A.; McKelvey, K.;
Niyogi, 1. (2015). Uncertainty in energy
planning: Estimating the health impacts of
air pollution from fossil fuel electricity
generation. Energy Research & Social
Science 6, 74-77.

Report

February
2015

California,

United

States

Used COBRA model for the Energy Commission's first
"Standardized Regulator Impact Assessment" for
appliance efficiency standards division. Estimated
proposed standards would avoid $1.0-2.3 million in
health impacts in the first year. By 2025, the range
increases to $5.8 -14.8 million.

https://efiling.enerev.ca.go
v/Lists/DocketLog.aspx?doc
ketnumber=15-AAER-01

REVISED STANDARDIZED REGULATORY
IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF 2014 PROPOSED
APPLIANCE EFFICIENCY REGULATIONS:
Regulations for Toilets, Urinals, Faucets,
Dimming Ballasts, Air Filters, and Heat-
Pump Water-Chilling Packages



Book

January
2015

N/A

COBRA was used to value the avoided health impacts
from the reduction in air quality pollutants from
electric drive vehicles.

http://www.routledge.com/
books/details/97811388111
02/

Link, A.N., O'Connor, A.C., & Scott, T.J.
(2015). Battery Technology for Electric
Vehicles: Public Science and Private
Innovation. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Article

January
2015

N/A

Results from InMAP, a comprehensive air quality
model for estimating the air pollution health impacts
of emission reductions and other potential
interventions, were compared against COBRA
because it is an existing reduced-form model.

http://www.geosci-model-
dev-

discuss.net/8/9281/2015/g
mdd-8-9281-2015.pdf

C. W. Tessum, J. D. Hill, and J. D. Marshall.
(2015). InMAP: a new model for air
pollution interventions. Geosci. Model Dev.
Discuss., 8, 9281-9321. Doi:
10.5194/gmdd-8-9281-2015.

www.epa.gov/cobra

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Working
Paper

November
2014

N/A

Explained COBRA's use in calculating morbidity
endpoints including mortality, chronic bronchitis,
non-fatal heart attaches, respiratory hospital
admissions, and acute bronchitis, among others.

http://www. theicct.org/site
s/default/files/publications/
ICCT morbidities 20141112
.pdf

Chambliss, S. et al. (2014). Morbidities
Calculation: Guidelines and Walkthrough.
The International Council on Clean
Transportation. Working Paper 2014-10.

Working
Paper

November
2014

United
States

Used COBRA to measure the health impacts from
current electricity generation infrastructure. S02 and
NOx pollutant were expected to add $125 billion to
health care costs in 2013, leading to 18,000
premature deaths, 27,000 cases of acute bronchitis,
240,000 episodes of respiratory distress, and 2.3
million lost work days.

https://www.edf.org/sites/
default/files/edf laitner-
mcdonnell-energv-
efficiencv-as-a-pollution-
control-technologv.pdf

Laitner, J.A.; McDonnell, M.T. (2014).
Energy Efficiency as a Pollution Control
Technology and a Net Job Creator under
Section 111(d) Carbon Pollution Standards
for Existing Power Plants. Working paper
prepared for the Environmental Defense
Fund.

Report

August
2014

United
States

Used COBRA to evaluate the health impacts of energy
efficiency and renewable energy research and
development programs. Found avoided incidences
and monetary benefits of adult and infant mortality,
heart attacks, hospital admissions, respiratory
symptoms, and work loss days, resulting in $17.7-
45.2 million in benefits.

https://energv.gov/sites/pr
od/files/2015/05/f22/evalu
ating realized rd mpacts
9-22-14.pdf

O'Connor, Alan C., and Ross J. Loomis.
"Evaluating Realized Impacts of DOE/EERE
R&D Programs." (2014).

Report

April 2014

United
States

Used COBRA to measure the health impacts of four
state policies to improve energy efficiency. Found
ACEEE scenario would avoid over 147,000 asthma
attacks, 5000 premature deaths, and $100 million
due to lost work days.

http://climateandenergv.or
g/resources/ACEEEllldrole
ofefficiencv.pdf

American Council for an Energy-Efficient
Economy. (2014). Change Is in the Air: How
States Can Harness Energy Efficiency to
Strengthen the Economy and Reduce
Pollution.

Master's
Thesis

January
2014

Utah, United
States

COBRA was used to estimate Cache County's
potential public health savings from a seasonal gas
tax. Found benefits to be $479,403-1,086,075.

http://digitalcommons.usu.
edu/etd/3870

Moscardini, Leo A., "Estimating the
Effectiveness of a Seasonal Gas Tax for
Controlling Episodic PM2.5 Concentrations
in Cache County, Utah" (2014). All
Graduate Theses and Dissertations. Paper
3870.

Report

December
2013

United
States

Used COBRA to quantify and monetize the value of
changes in the incidence of avoided adverse health
events associated with emissions reductions. Found
avoided incidences and economic value for mortality,
respiratory and cardiovascular measures, and work
loss days, total $1.76-45.2 million.

https://wwwl.eere. energv.
gov/analvsis/pdfs/2013 bca
vto edvs.pdf

Link, Albert N., et al. "Benefit-Cost
Evaluation of US DOE Investment in Energy
Storage Technologies for Hybrid and
Electric Cars and Trucks." (2013).

www.epa.gov/cobra

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Article

February
2013

California
and Idaho,
United
States

Used COBRA to calculate the benefits of wind energy
derived from two locations: a 580 MW wind farm at
Altamont Pass, CA, and a 22 MW wind farm in
Sawtooth, ID. The turbines in CA will likely avoid $560
million-$4.38 billion in health costs and the ID
turbines will likely avoid $18-104 million.

https://www.sciencedirect.
com/science/article/pii/S03
0142151200969X

McCubbin, D. and Sovacool, B.K. (2013).
Quantifying the health and environmental
benefits of wind power to natural gas.
Energy Policy 53, 429-441.

Book

January
2013

N/A

Analyzed COBRA as a tool for program evaluation to
discuss the many factors that affect the utility of each
technique and how that impacts the technological,
economic and societal forecasts of the programs in
question.

https://www.e-
elgar.com/shop/handbook-
on-the-theorv-and-practice-
of-program-evaluation

O'Connor, A. et al. "Estimating avoided
environmental emissions and
environmental health benefits" Chapter 9,
Handbook on the Theory and Practice of
Program Evaluation (2013): 247.

Article

November
2012

United
States

"In this example, the original air quality modeling
entailed a significant investment of time and
resources, but the resulting benefit per ton estimates
enable analysts to quickly estimate benefits. In other
approaches, a simplified air quality model is
developed based on the responsiveness of ambient
pollutant levels to changing emissions. These source-
receptor relationships are then used to calculate
health impacts and benefits. Though the
development of the air quality model is resource
intensive, its subsequent application to various policy
scenarios is not." Found the value of reducing directly
emitted PM25 and PM2 5 ranges between
approximately $1300 for reducing a ton of NOx from
Ocean-Going Vessels to about $450,000 for reducing
a ton of directly emitted PM25 from Iron and Steel
facilities.

http://www.sciencedirect.c
om/science/article/pii/S016
0412012001985

Fann, N., Baker, K. R., & Fulcher, C. M.
(2012). Characterizing the PM 2.5-related
health benefits of emission reductions for
17 industrial, area and mobile emission
sectors across the US. Environment
international, 49,141-151.

Working
Paper

July 2012

North
Carolina,
United
States

Used COBRA to determine the portion of Clean
Smokestacks emissions reduction benefits realized in
North Carolina under the Clean Smokestacks Act.
Found mortality benefits from reduced S02 emissions
to equal $6.365-$16.032 million.

http://nicholasinstitute.duk

e.edu/climate/policvdesign/

benefits-of-earlv-state-

action-in-environmental-

regulation-of-electric-

utilities/

Hoppock, David, et al. "Benefits of early
state action in environmental regulation of
electric utilities: North Carolina's clean
smokestacks act." Nicholas Institute for
Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke
University: Durham, NC (2012).

www.epa.gov/cobra

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Article

January
2012

California,

United

States

Used COBRA to estimate the health impacts of plug-
in electric vehicles in California. Estimated the value
of benefits at $750 to $1,500 per vehicle in an
expected PEV penetration scenario and $1,000 to
$2,500 per vehicle in an aggressive penetration
scenario.

https://iournals.sagepub.co
m/doi/10.3141/2287-19

Witt, M. et al. (2012). Plug-in Vehicles in
California: Review of Current Policies, PEV-
Related Emissions Reductions for 2020,
and Policy Outlook.

Book

January
2012

N/A

Used COBRA to measure the health impacts from
decreases PM2.5, S02, and NOx from public
investments in energy technologies. Found adverse
health incidences to be $90,500 (on-grid centralized
systems), $11.8 million (grid-connected distributed
systems), and $28.7 million (off-grid systems).

https://www.e-
elgar.com/shop/public-
investments-in-energv-
technologv

Gallaher, Michael P., Albert N. Link, and
Alan O'Connor. Public Investments in
Energy Technology. Edward Elgar
Publishing, 2012.

Article

November
2011

United
States

Used COBRA to estimate the health benefits of wind
power. The turbines in CA will likely avoid $560
million-$4.38 billion in health costs and the ID
turbines will likely avoid $18-104 million.

http://www.sciencedirect.c
om/science/article/pii/S104
0619011002351

McCubbin, Donald, and Benjamin K.
Sovacool. "The hidden factors that make
wind energy cheaper than natural gas in
the United States." The Electricity
Journal 24.9 (2011): 84-95.

Book

January
2011

United
States

Used COBRA to estimate the health costs of air
pollution by mode of transportation including road,
rail, air, and water. Estimated air-pollution costs by
road (LDVG: 0.91(£/pmt; HDVD: <£l.55/tm), rail
((£0.35/tm), air ((£0.39/pmt; (£l.88/tm) and water
(<£l.74/tm).

https://escholarship.org/uc
/item/13n8v8ga

Delucchi, Mark, and Don McCubbin.
"External costs of transport in the United
States." Chapter 15 in A Handbook of
Transport Economics (2011): 341.

Report

August
2010

United
States

Used COBRA to calculate the health benefits of
reductions in air pollutants resulting from using PV
systems rather than the next best technology
alternative for electricity production. Estimated
environmental health benefits to be to be $237
million.

https://energv.gov/sites/pr
od/files/2015/05/f22/solar
pv.pdf

O'Connor, Alan C., Ross J. Loomis, and Fern
M. Braun. "Retrospective Benefit-Cost
Evaluation of DOE Investment in
Photovoltaic Energy Systems." RTI
International (2010).

www.epa.gov/cobra

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August
2010

United
States

RTI International (2010): RTI, for the U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE), estimated health benefits associated
with two types of geothermal technologies in which
DOE has invested using COBRA. The study calculated
a net reduction in PM, NOx, and S02 associated with
geothermal energy produced by geothermal plants
that otherwise would have been produced by fossil
fuel plants. Total environmental health benefits are
estimated to be $155.7 million.

https://www.enerev.eov/sit
es/prod/files/2014/02/f7/et
p benefit-

cost eval aue2010.pdf

Retrospective Benefit-Cost Evaluation of
U.S. DOE Geothermal Technologies R&D
Program Investments: Impacts of a Cluster
of Energy Technologies

Report

June 2010

United
States

Used COBRA to quantify and monetize the value of
changes in the incidence of avoided adverse health
events associated with emissions reductions from
electric vehicle investments. Found $1,107,053 in
avoided mortality and health care incidents.

https://wwwl.eere. enerev.
eov/analvsis/pdfs/wind be
reportl0-14-10.pdf

Retrospective Benefit-Cost Evaluation of
U.S. DOE Wind Energy Program: Impact of
Selected Energy Technology Investments

Report

May 2010

United
States

"Health benefits associated with reduced diesel fuel
consumption and reduced NOx, PM, and Sox
emissions are quantified in monetary terms using the
COBRA." Found $53.7 million in health benefits from
reduce environmental emissions.

https://wwwl.eere. enerev.
eov/analvsis/pdfs/advanced
combustion report.pdf

May 2010 - USDOE EERE Prepared by
Albert Link, UNC at Greensboro Dept of
Economics, Retrospective Benefit-Cost
Evaluation of US DOE Vehicle Combustion
Engine R&D Investments: Impacts of a
Cluster of Energy Technologies

Report

May 2010

Utah, United
States

Mentions COBRA as an option for estimating the co-
benefits of emissions reductions from energy
efficiency and renewable energy. Found mortality
benefits to be $7.39-7.79/MWh and mobility benefits
to be $0.48/MWh.

http://www.svnapse-
enerev.com/sites/default/fil
es/SvnapseReport.2010-
05. UT-EO. Utah-Co-
Benefits.08-064.pdf

Fisher, Jeremy, et al. "Co-Benefits of
energy efficiency and renewable energy in
Utah." Synapse Energy Economics (2010).

Report

January
2010

Iowa, United
States

Physicians for Social Responsibility, a non-profit
organization, used COBRA to estimate the health
benefits of a scenario in which the percentage of
Iowa's electricity generation derived from coal was
reduced from its current level of 72% to the national
average of 47%. Health benefits totaled $71.8 million,
of which 92.1% were derived from reduced mortality

https://iowaenvironmentalf
ocus.org/tae/iowa-coal-
health-a-preliminary-
mappine-studv/

Iowa Coal & Health: A Preliminary Mapping
Study

www.epa.gov/cobra

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Article

January
2010

United
States

"To estimate health effects from changes in air
pollution emissions attributed to the program cluster
evaluated, the US Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA) COBRA model (Co-Benefits Risk Assessment
Model, described in US EPA [6]) is used. To apply
COBRA, it is necessary to enter the estimated
changes in air emissions of particulate matter (PM),
sulphur dioxide (S02), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the model.
Because not all air pollutants are taken into account
by the model, the results obtained from using COBRA
for the analysis is taken as a lower bound estimate of
impact of health effects and their economic value.
Table 2 shows the health effects included in COBRA,
by type of effect. The model provides estimates of
the incidence of each type of effect and related
healthcare costs.

https://www. witoress.com/
Secure/elibrarv/oapers/EEl
A10/EE IA10009FUl.pdf

Ruegg, R. T., and G. B. Jordan. "New
benefit-cost methodology for evaluating
renewable and energy efficiency programs
of the US Department of Energy." WIT
Transactions on Ecology and the
Environment 131 (2010): 95-106.

Article

July 2009

United
States

"For each power plant, we estimated the relationship
between emissions and incremental contribution to
ambient concentrations using a S-R matrix. S-R matrix
is a reduced-form model based on the Climatological
Regional Dispersion Model, a sector-averaged
Gaussian dispersion model that includes wet and dry
deposition and first-order chemical conversion of
S02 and NOx to sulfate and nitrate particles. More
detail about the model is available elsewhere" Found
the economic valuation premature mortality to be
$5.5 million.

http://onlinelibrarv.wilev.co
m/doi/10.1111/i.l539-
6924.2009.01227.x/full

Levy, J. 1., Baxter, L. K., & Schwartz, J.
(2009). Uncertainty and variability in
health-related damages from coal-fired
power plants in the United States. Risk
Analysis, 29(1), 1000-1014.

Report

July 2009

California,

United

States

COBRA was analyzed as part of an effort to identify
methodological alternatives for quantifying the
benefits of renewable energy, including the pros and
cons of the tool.

http://www.nrel.g0v/d0cs/f
v09osti/45639.pdf

Mosey, Gail, and Laura
Vimmerstedt. Renewable electricity
benefits quantification methodology: a
request for technical assistance from the
California Public Utilities Commission.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
2009.

www.epa.gov/cobra

Note that links to some publications require a subscription.

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January
2009

Virginia,

United

States

Abt Associates performed an analysis of the health
effects impacts of a proposed coal-fired power plant
in Wise County, Virginia. The study estimated that
the plant would contribute to two to five premature
mortality events annually in Virginia, and five to
fourteen premature mortality events nationwide.
Total annual economic impacts of health effects in
Virginia ranged from $16 to $52 million, and $44 to
$135 million nationwide.

https://www.abtassociates.

com/insights/publications/r

eport/assessing-the-

economic-impact-of-

dominion-virginia-powers-

Assessing the Economic Impact of
Dominion Virginia Power's Coal-Fired
Power Plant in Wise County, Virginia
(2009), Abt Associates, Prepared for: Wise
Energy for Virginia Coalition c/o
Appalachian Voices

coal-fired

Working
Paper

November
2007

United
States

"For a tool for calculating co-benefits, see Mulholland
(2007). For estimates of damages from releases of
particulates, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides in
the U.S., see Muller and Mendelsohn (2007)."

http://scholarworks.umass.
edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?art
icle=1121&context=peri wo

Boyce, James K., and Matthew Riddle. "Cap
and dividend: how to curb global warming
while protecting the incomes of American
families." (2007).

rkingpapers

Article

May 2007

United
States

Used COBRA to model the public health benefits and
the change in the spatial inequality of health risk for a
number of hypothetical control scenarios for power
plants in the United States to determine optimal
control strategies. Benefits ranged from 17,000-
21,000 fewer premature deaths per year.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.go
v/pmc/articles/PMC186797

3L

Levy, Jonathan 1., Andrew M. Wilson, and
Leonard M. Zwack. "Quantifying the
efficiency and equity implications of power
plant air pollution control strategies in the
United States." Environmental health
perspectives (2007): 743-750.

Memoran-
dum

April 2007

Wisconsin,

United

States

Used COBRA to determine the public health benefits
of implementing the NOx RACT rule. The benefits
amount was compared to compliance costs. Found
the NOx RACT rule would provide $80,000,000/year
in public health benefits.

http://dnr.wi.gov/about/nr

DATE: April 9, 2007; TO: Members of the
Wl Natural Resources Board ; FROM: Scott
Hassett, Secretary; SUBJECT: Reasonably
Available Control Technology (RACT)
program for major sources of nitrogen
oxides (NOx) in the moderate ozone
nonattainment;

http://dnr.wi.gov/air/pdf/AM1705.pdf

b/2007/April/04-07-3Al.pdf

www.epa.gov/cobra

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Article

February
2007

United
States

"The S-R matrix is a regression-based derivation of
output from the Climatological Regional Dispersion
Model (CRDM) which uses assumptions similar to the
Industrial Source Complex Short Term model
(ISCST3). It was developed by Pechan and Associates
for Abt Associates and used in past regulatory impact
analyses (US Environmental Protection Agency,
1999d). S-R matrix provides a database of transfer
factors that summarize the impact that mobile
source PM2.5 and precursor emissions from any one
county have on ambient PM2.5 concentrations in
that county as well as all other counties (Abt
Associates, 2003)"

http://www.sciencedirect.c
om/science/article/pii/S135
2231006009654

Greco, S. L, Wilson, A. M., Spengler, J. D.,
& Levy, J. 1. (2007). Spatial patterns of
mobile source particulate matter
emissions-to-exposure relationships across
the United States. Atmospheric
Environment, 41(5), 1011-1025.

Article

April 2006

N/A

Other options include the CoBenefits Risk
Assessment (COBRA) model,34 which features built-
in source-receptor atmospheric sensitivity matrices in
place of atmospheric modeling by the user to allow
quick estimates of the health impacts from various
emission sources; the Ozone Risk Assessment
Model,35 which operates in a similar fashion to
BenMAP; and the Air Strategy Assessment Program,
currently under development by EPA to link BenMAP
with AirControlNET costing software36 for full-
stream assessment of both costs and benefits of
attainment options (B. Hubbell, EPA, personal
communication, March 8, 2005). These and other
tools, along with an improved understanding of the
potential role of benefit analysis in integrated air
quality management, could provide the necessary
impetus for its greater incorporation in upcoming SIP
development. Estimated net benefits of alternative
control strategies to be between $1.5-1.6 million.

http://www.tandfonline.co
m/doi/abs/10.1080/104732
89.2006.10464524

Chestnut, Lauraine G., David M. Mills, and
Daniel S. Cohan. "Cost-benefit analysis in
the selection of efficient multipollutant
strategies." Journal of the Air & Waste
Management Association 56.4 (2006): 530-
536.

www.epa.gov/cobra

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November
2004

Connecticut,

United

States

REMI, for EPA and the State of Connecticut, analyzed
the impacts of oil and natural gas conservation
policies in Connecticut. The study integrated
estimates of reduced mortality and the value of
health improvements from COBRA into a simulation
of the impacts of these policies on the state's
economy.



Economic Impact of Oil and Natural Gas
Conservation Policies, Regional Economic
Models, Inc. (2004). Prepared for U.S. EPA
and the State of Connecticut.

www.epa.gov/cobra

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